Catholic Church History
I found a very interesting book on the topic of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin order in the United States. I won’t go into the history of the Catholic church so long story short, this is the group that started St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis.
They also started the Mission of Holy Cross church, which I had not realized was built to “guard the souls” at Calvary cemetery. Bishop Henni realized that as the parishes got larger, the priests had less and less time to tend to the souls of the dead. Therefore they built a church across from the Calvary Cemetery entrance to help care for those souls.
I also added the history of St. Elizabeth Hospice and Parish.
In reading the book I came across this excerpt:
Father Bonaventure, an ear witness, states that every night the community was frightened by a strange novice around the furnace, a loud hammering and hissing and howling as of dogs; the Brothers watched, but could not detect the cause of the disturbance; two novices left the place, terrified; Mr. A. Flatten, the carpenter who lived in the community, beheld his door opening one evening while in bed; a man entered his room, approached his bed, walked over him, and disappeared. Such and similar annoyances occurred every night for six months. Father bona venture, thinking that evil spirits were haunting the place, questions them, but receives no answer; Father Francis, who had turned in the meantime, exorcises the houses, to no avail. The hill had formerly been used as a burying-ground for Indians, and later on for the whites (a golgotha in the true sense of the word); the remains had been removed, but some were not found at the time; and up to this day human bones are often disinterred when a grave is dug or a foundation for a building is excavated. Father Francis then ordered during the coming month all holy Masses, prayers, and god works be offered up for the repose of the souls of those who were buried there; at the end of the month quiet was again restored. We refrain from passing any judgement on these events and merely state that, whatever their cause, they have never been explained. (date of incident 1857-1859, written in 1907)
Links are as follows:
Province of St. Joseph of Capuchin order in the United States
St. Elizabeth Parish and Hospice
St. Francis Seminary
Holy Cross Catholic Church